Over the Tomato Bin
by kikila
Summary: Hugo. Hermione. Annoyance. Misunderstanding. Muggles. Tomatoes. The Beatles. Connect the dots, and it might just end up all right, in the end.


**A/N**

**Hermione is a little OOC in this one, I admit it. Although I do see Hugo as a bit of a recluse in this universe, so it's not entirely unlikely. Has nothing to do with TRD.**

* * *

><p>Hugo stared intently at the posters lining his wall. He had drawn them himself, with special enchanted colored pencils, and they had taken months. They were two, life-sized posters of his favorite Quidditch players, and they moved. The posters surely proved that he could do something well, right? Wrong. His dad had complimented them, but never mentioned his art again.<p>

His mum had said; "Did you study before you made them? No wonder you flunked that Charms test, really, Hugo, if you want to succeed you must study and do good work. Why, Rose just recently..." Whenever his mother mentioned Rose, he zoned out. Perfect Rose. Never, ever, did anyone not compare him with Rose. Why did he have to be (a male) Rose Jr.? Why couldn't he just be Hugo?

A commotion in the main hallway alerted him to his mother's presence at home. He could hear Rose arguing... Wait. How come she didn't get mad when Rose argued? She sure got annoyed when he did it... Hugo decided he should show up now, before she called. It would be easier not to make her wait. He walked reluctantly down the hall, just as Rose turned around.

"-and Mum, look, he can do it, he's not busy at all!" Rose declared, and disappeared up the stairs.

"What?" he said sullenly.

"We need to go to the market." she replied

. "Diagon Alley?" he asked hopefully.

"No. The Muggle grocer's. I need food for your grandparents when they arrive tomorrow morning." she told him. Oh. Muggle shops were boring, and he had to carry bags. Heavy bags. He groaned silently as he pulled on his grubby trainers.

The Muggle world, while odd and often dull, could be intriguing. As they walked briskly down the street, the sights and smells surrounded him. There was a delicious scent coming from one shop in particular, a place with a large golden M called McDonald's. He swerved towards it before being grabbed by his mother.

"There is far too much fat in that food.." she sighed, exasperatedly.

It happened again when they passed a large shop full of round balls, covered in black and white patches and various shirts. "Arsenal" one shirt read, a cannon emblazoned on its red chest. Another, blue with a lion rampant upon it, read "Aston Villa". They looked like Quidditch uniform tops, and the balls looked like quaffles, albeit bigger and not red. But when he tried to stop and get a closer look, mum pulled him back again. They walked along quietly after that, until mum said, unexpectedly;

"How is your summer homework coming along, dear? Are you having trouble with the Charms again, because if you are, Rose can-" She stopped at his scowl. "What is the matter with you? I just want to know about your life! Does that make me a bad mother?" He muttered again. "What did you say?" He snapped, right there in that crowded London street.

"I SAID, MY LIFE EXTENDS BEYOND HOMEWORK YOU KNOW, AND IF YOU WERE A GOOD MUM YOU'D ASK ME ABOUT **THAT** ONCE IN A WHILE!" She looked taken aback for a second. Then she whispered, still looking quite shocked,

"Oh." They walked on in silence so sharp it could cut ice.

Muggles are strange bunch, Hugo thought. For instance, the pickle. What does pickle mean? Did someone named Pickle discover them, or something? Where they just plain Ickles, and then they got picked? Hugo was bursting with questions, but he didn't dare ask. His mum was trying to find the perfect tomato, and she was leaning over the produce bins, examining each one. He strolled over to watch her. She looked up, surprised. She turned away, but then suddenly whipped around again.

"Errr…So, what do you like, Hugo?" she said it softly, but he still heard. He looked at her. Was she ok? She seemed fine, but you never know. "Hugo, what do you like?" she asked again, a little bit louder this time.

"I like drawing, Quidditch, and the Beatles." he replied. She stopped, and dropped her tomato.

"My parents used to play the Beatles all the time when I was small... Which song is your favorite?" His jaw dropped. A normal conversation? With Mum? Never in his life would he have imagined this happening. Ever.

"I like them all, but 'Yellow Submarine' is definitely my favorite." he responded.

"That's my favorite as well!" she said, smiling. Suddenly, she began to sing, belting out the words to 'Yellow Submarine', right there in the grocery store. Hugo gaped first, and then sighed. Why not? He too began to sing, loudly, and their slightly tone deaf voices sounded in unison as they sang, over the tomato bin.

Their voices sounded high over the London streets as they sang, laughing. People stared at them inquisitively, but Hugo couldn't care less. It was wonderful, really, singing with his mum and though it sounded cliché, it was true, Very true. As they finished the last chord of "Let it Be", his mum pushed open the heavy, dark wood door to their home. She set down her grocery bags and beamed at him. He beamed back. He gave her a quick hug and ran up to his room.

But for once in his life, he didn't feel like being alone. Maybe, just maybe, he'd go hang with Rose, or play cards with his dad. Amazing, really, he thought, that his mum had done that. He'd never realized that she could be pretty fun sometimes. And now, she might just see him as Hugo, not Rose Jr. No. Not maybe. He was one hundred percent certain she did see him as Hugo. And that made Hugo the happiest he'd ever been in his life.


End file.
